PGTS Journal Edition #022
January, 2004.

January 2004

Happy New Year to everyone except Microsoft, who have just discovered that another pigeon has flown the coop. Reliable sources (AP) report that:

In an apparent showdown over price, Israel's government has suspended purchases of Microsoft productivity software and is encouraging the development of an open source alternative.

By itself this might not dampen the New Year celebrations in Redmond, but combined with the news already in from France, China, Germany, Brazil, etc, the year may not turn out as a happy one for Microsoft

Couldn't happen to a nicer monopoly ...

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Upgrading Oracle RDBMS

At last, the article on upgrading to Oracle 8.1.7 on Win 2K. This is a rather brief. I will try to expand on it. Also an article on automating telnet with expect. And an article concerning Free Enterprise vs. Corporate Enterprise, which examines some of the issues surrounding intellectual property and the seizure of intellectual assets by corporations.

2004 seems to be shaping up to be as the year when security issues start coming to the front-burner. The USA now seems likely to insist that all aircraft should have armed sky-marshalls on board. One could be forgiven for pondering why a marshall (presumably) armed with a firearm that could puncture the fuselage of an aircraft, would be a better solution than securing the cockpit door.

In Australia it seems we are making our own contribution to aviation security. A recent article in The Age reports that the:

Explosive Trace Detection System (ETDS) in airports was triggered by traces of cosmetics on passengers or their luggage.

So, readers thinking of flying, should take care in their choice of cosmetics. It might be a good idea to put on a good layer of scepticism along with any lipstick and eye-liner.